....and it's lots of old microfilm readers in the wastebasket.

Press Release (following) posted by Christopher Gray, New York City

Bell & Howell Signs Landmark Agreement with The New York Times Company to
Digitize Historical Backfiles of The New York Times - Full page images of
issues dating back to 1851 to become available via ProQuest® online
information system
NEW YORK, NY and ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, January 12, 2001 - - Bell & Howell
(NYSE: BHW) Information and Learning unit and The New York Times Company
(NYSE: NYT) announced today an agreement that will bring The New York Times
newspaper's backfile dating back to its first issue in 1851 to the Web
through the ProQuest® online information service. This landmark agreement
allows for Bell & Howell to digitize the backfile of the nation's newspaper
of record - some 3,500,000 pages in total - and to distribute the resulting
database to educational institutions and libraries around the world.

The New York Times digital backfile will be part of Bell &Howell's recently
announced ProQuest Historical Newspapers™ project.

"This agreement will bring uniquely valuable materials to researchers,
scholars, students, and historians of just about every discipline
everywhere," said Joe Reynolds, president and CEO of Bell & Howell
Information and Learning. "Since The New York Times was first produced on
microfilm more than 50 years ago, it has been considered to be one of the
most valued resources in academic and public libraries, if not 'the' premium
national information source. We are deeply honored and enthusiastic to
proceed with digitization and electronic distribution of, essentially, the
nation's history in journalism. We know that the educational and library
markets are excited at the prospect of being able to access what has only
been available on microfilm - this information and historical treasure
wrapped up in The New York Times. We will continue to bring to market
archival products in all formats for scholars, researchers, faculty, and
students around the world. We will now be able to offer a complete New York
Times in microfilm and online electronic formats."

The electronic file will be released in segments covering 10 years each. The
digitization is expected to be completed in just 15 months, with monthly
releases beginning in March 2001. The resulting database, which will be sold
as an annual subscription to libraries and schools, will feature ASCII text
and index searching, and will display article and full-page images.

Page images provide unique view to the past
The ProQuest historical archive ofThe New York Times will digitally reproduce
every issue from cover to cover-not just the news stories and editorials, but
also the photos, graphics, and advertisements. Searchers will be able to
enter terms (keywords, such as "Hindenberg" or "Hooverville," or Boolean
operators such as "keyword(general motors) and doc_type(display ad)" or
"title(lindbergh) and date(1927)") to search the full file. A results list
will supply bibliographic information, including date, page number, and
writer's name (where given). To see the text, the user simply chooses the
article, and the article image is displayed. Users will also be able to
display the full image of any page in any issue.

Janet Robinson, president and general manager of The New York Times
newspaper, said: " We have been working with Bell & Howell for the past 17
years to produce and distribute The Times on microfilm and are pleased to be
continuing that relationship and extending it to embark upon this
digitization project."

Martin Nisenholtz, chief executive officer of New York Times Digital, the
Internet division of the Times Company, said: "This digitization project
promises to increase the availability and accessibility of The New York Times
archive to scholars and researchers of all types. In addition, we look
forward to enhancing our Web sites by utilizing various elements of the
digital archive in a number of different ways."

In the second release of the product, expected in June 2001, the database
will be completely browseable by issue, allowing searchers to browse through
entire issues as they would a printed paper.

Dates of coverage
The database will cover the years 1851 to 1998 - a span of issues currently
not covered by any existing electronic database.

In addition, Bell & Howell will be able to offer subscriptions to the full
text in ASCII format dating from January 1, 1999 (up from the current 90-day
rolling file). This change in coverage is effective immediately.

The interface
The award-winning ProQuest® online information system features a
user-friendly interface that allows beginners to pinpoint highly specific
information (a photograph of John D. Rockefeller, for instance, or an
eyewitness account of McKinley's assassination) or conduct in-depth
longitudinal research (on topics like the changing status of
African-Americans from antebellum days through the recent past). The
interface is familiar to many; it is currently available to millions of
higher education, K-12, and public library users globally.

Free trials available in March
Free trials will be available to institutions in March. A demonstration of
the database will be available for review soon at
www.bellhowell.infolearning.com. Libraries may receive more information by
contacting their account representative at 1-800-521-0600, ext. 3183 or 3452
(outside the U.S., call +44-1-223-215-512) or
[log in to unmask] Editors may call 1-800-521-0600, ext.
3805 or email [log in to unmask]

More information about the ProQuest Historical Newspapers project is
available at www.bellhowell.infolearning.com.

About The New York Times Company
The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) is a diversified media company
including newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations, and
electronic information and publishing. The Company's core purpose is to
enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news,
information and entertainment. In 2000 the Company was ranked No. 1 in the
publishing industry in Fortune's survey of the Global Most Admired Companies
and was ranked first among all companies in the survey for the quality of its
products and services.

The Company, which had 1999 revenues of $3.1 billion, publishes The New York
Times, The Boston Globe and 15 other newspapers; publishes four magazines,
including Golf Digest; operates eight network-affiliated television stations
and owns two New York City radio stations. It also operates news, photo and
graphics services as well as news and feature syndicates. A division of the
Company, New York Times Digital, operates Internet properties such as
NYTimes.com, Boston.com and newyorktoday.com. The Company holds interests in
one newsprint mill, one supercalendered paper mill and the International
Herald Tribune S.A.S.

About Bell & Howell Information and Learning


Bell & Howell, headquartered in Skokie, Ill., is a leading information
solutions and services provider to industries worldwide. In each of its
businesses, the company transforms information through software and services,
helping its customers operate more effectively and efficiently. Additional
information on Bell & Howell Company can be found at www.bellhowell.com.

Bell & Howell Information and Learning (formerly UMI) is a world leader in
collecting, organizing, and distributing information worldwide to
researchers, faculty, and students in libraries and schools. Known widely for
its strength in business, general-reference, humanities, and social sciences
content, the company develops premium databases comprising periodicals,
newspapers, dissertations, out-of-print books, and other scholarly
information from more than 8,500 publishers worldwide. Users access the
information through ProQuest®, the company's Web-based online information
system, Chadwyck-Healey® electronic and microform resources, and UMI®
microform and print reference products. For more information about Bell &
Howell Information and Learning, visit www.bellhowell.infolearning.com.


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For more information, contact:
News Media Contacts:
Tina Creguer
Director, Communications/PR
1-800-521-0600, ext. 3805
734-761-4700, ext. 3805
[log in to unmask]
Lisa Carparelli
Director, Communications
New York Times Digital
646-698-8212
[log in to unmask]

 Investor Contacts:
Dwight Mater
V.P., Investor Relations and Business Development
Bell & Howell Company
847-470-7620
Catherine Mathis
V.P., Corporate Communications
The New York Times Company
212-556-1981
[log in to unmask]

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©2000, Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.